Alignement Archives - TEC Resource Center

September 6, 2023 By Pat Meehan

Identifying Your Ideal Customer

Welcome to Identifying Your Ideal Customer – Part 6 of our series on The Power of Strategic Planning.

Introduction:

A significant portion of your strategic plan will be focused on marketing, pinpointing your ideal customer, and comprehending their pain points. In part 6 of this series, we will delve into the art of identifying your ideal customer and gaining a deep understanding of their pain points, both of which are essential for crafting compelling marketing messages. With the number of ads American’s are exposed to each day (between 6,000 and 10,000) it only makes sense to make sure this part of your plan is rock solid.

Step 1: Defining Your Ideal Customer

The foundation of any effective marketing campaign is a crystal-clear definition of your ideal customer. This involves creating detailed buyer personas or profiles that represent the individuals you are targeting. Consider these key elements when defining your ideal customer:

Demographics: Start with the basics, such as age, gender, location, and income. These fundamental characteristics serve as your starting point.
Psychographics: Delve into their lifestyle, values, interests, and behaviors. What drives them? What are their hobbies? What are their core values and motivations?

Step 2: Research Your Audience

To build accurate and meaningful buyer personas, you must conduct thorough research. Here are some valuable research methods to consider:

Surveys and Questionnaires: Gather insights directly from your existing customers or prospective audience through surveys and questionnaires. This is also a great way to build out your marketing list to be used during the launch of your marketing campaign. We will discuss this in Part 7 of this series.
Social Media Listening: Monitor social media platforms to discern the topics and issues that resonate with your potential customers. The best way to get exposed to your potential customers is to engage with them on social media sites of competitors or industry influencers. By being active on feeds that already have large numbers of followers you can really discern the problems this audience needs solutions to and craft a solution that will give them what they are looking for.
Competitor Analysis: Study your competitors to gain insights into their customer base and discover any unmet needs or underserved pain points. Read the reviews and look for opportunities to do it better.

Step 3: Understanding Your Ideal Customers Pain Points

Understanding the pain points of your ideal customer is paramount in creating a marketing strategy that truly connects. What is the problem they currently have that they need solutions for? Here’s how to gain insight into their challenges:

Surveys and Interviews: Conduct surveys or one-on-one interviews to probe deeper into the specific problems or challenges your ideal customers encounter in their lives or work. LinkedIn and other social media platforms allow direct polling that can be very helpful when testing potential solutions to a problem.
Customer Feedback: Pay close attention to feedback from your current customers and that of your competitors. What issues or concerns do they frequently raise?
Online Forums and Communities: Explore relevant online forums and communities where your target audience congregates. Analyze discussions and comments to uncover recurring pain points. Alignable is the perfect place to ask direct questions of a target audience or listen to the questions asked by others. Local Mom groups and community forums like Next Door often provide great feedback on what people are having issues with or need solutions too.
Keyword Research: Use keyword research tools like Spyfu or Google to identify the most common search queries related to your industry or niche. These queries often reflect the pain points people are seeking solutions for.

Conclusion:

Identifying your ideal customer and gaining insight into their pain points form the bedrock of a successful marketing strategy which we will cover in more detail in part 7 of this series. When you deeply understand the challenges and issues that your target audience faces, you can tailor your offerings and marketing messaging to offer genuine solutions that resonate with them. This understanding is a dynamic process that evolves as your audience’s needs change, making it an ongoing effort that is well worth the investment. Stop just endlessly posting and engage with your social media audience, you might just uncover the answers you have been looking for. Ultimately, by empathizing with your ideal customers and addressing their pain points, you pave the way for stronger engagement, brand loyalty, and business growth. For help with your business roadmap reach out any time at TEC Resource Center or build your own roadmap with our newly launch Business Roadmap software. Until next time we wish you much success in whatever path you choose.

August 31, 2023 By Pat Meehan

From SWOT Analysis to Strategy.

Welcome to Part 5 of our series on The Power of Strategic Planning.

Introduction

In the ever-evolving landscape of the business world, success is often determined by the quality of strategic planning. Developing a sound strategy is akin to charting a course through uncharted waters, where every decision counts. One invaluable tool that has stood the test of time in this regard is the SWOT analysis. SWOT, an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, is a systematic framework for evaluating these critical aspects of a business. In this blog, we’ll explore the importance of SWOT analysis when determining a business strategy.

1. Identifying Strengths

The first step in a SWOT analysis is to identify and catalog an organization’s strengths. These are internal factors that give a business a competitive edge. They could be a well-established brand, a talented workforce, cutting-edge technology, or efficient processes. Recognizing these strengths is essential because they form the foundation upon which a successful strategy is built. By understanding what sets the company apart from the competition, leaders can leverage these strengths to capitalize on opportunities and mitigate weaknesses. In part 4 of this series, we covered the importance of a solid market analysis with the consideration of competitive intelligence playing a crucial role in the process. If possible, you want to avoid the me-too strategy by innovating a new approach or delivery system that looks and feels different to your target audience a capitalizes on your strengths.

2. Acknowledging Weaknesses

Every business has its weaknesses and acknowledging them is the second step in a SWOT analysis. These are internal factors that hinder a business’s performance. Common weaknesses might include an outdated infrastructure, a lack of skilled employees, limited resources, or inefficient procedures. Identifying weaknesses is crucial because it allows businesses to take steps to address these issues proactively. Ignoring weaknesses can lead to costly mistakes and missed opportunities. Weaknesses can be turned into strengths if they are presented to the customer correctly. Being different from your larger competitor by pointing out your ability to focus more directly on the customer that comes through your door might be very well received by the customer who has just spent hours trying to navigate the automated phone system of the behemoth of your industry.

In a blog by Zen Business, they point out 10 advantages that a small business has over its larger competitor.

Faster Decision-Making Process
Targeting Niche Markets
Empower and Developing Your Team
Personalize Customer Service
The Ability for the Customer to Access Leaders Directly
Prioritizing Your Local Community
Innovate Faster – Giving the Customer What They Actually Want.
Make Your Mark
Focus on a Specialization
Pivot Quickly and Effectively

Very often the larger corporation leaves big gaps in the market available to its small competitors because this customer segment is just not large enough to move their revenue needle. When I ran a smaller clinical engineering company and competed with the likes of GE and Aramark, we had a tag line of -Large Enough to Serve you and Small Enough to Care. We were focusing on the larger companies’ inability to be flexible enough to really address the needs of the individual client. This strategy worked extremely well and immediately identified who we were as a company.

3. ‘O’ in SWOT analysis – Capitalizing on Opportunities

The ‘O’ in SWOT analysis stands for Opportunities, which are external factors that could benefit a business. These might include market trends, technological advancements, or emerging consumer needs. By recognizing opportunities, organizations can tailor their strategies to capitalize on them. For example, a company with a strong online presence might seize the opportunity to expand its e-commerce offerings in response to a growing trend in online shopping. The e-commerce market was created when someone realized customers might prefer to shop from home rather than spend their spare time going to the mall. Amazon and Shopify identified this market trend and were able to capitalize on it.

4. ‘T’ in SWOT analysis – Mitigating Threats

The ‘T’ in SWOT analysis represents Threats, which are external factors that could harm a business. These can include economic downturns, regulatory changes, industry shrinkage, or aggressive competitors. Identifying threats is crucial because it allows organizations to develop contingency plans and strategies to mitigate potential risks. By being proactive, businesses can reduce the impact of threats and maintain a competitive position in the market. We spoke about the inability of the big box department store to identify and react to the e-commerce explosion and the results were devastating. The plan you are creating here is not a one-and-done process. Stay away from the “We have always done it this way” attitude. This is something you should review regularly and adjust as opportunities and threats are identified. As a business advisor, the first question I ask is to see a company’s business roadmap. In some cases, the business owner reaches for the bookshelf and blows the dust off something they spent money on years ago and never read again. This is far better than the blank stare that tells me one was never created. Your business roadmap should be a living document, and everyone in the organization should be aligned with the objectives detailed in it.

5. Holistic Strategic Planning

One of the key benefits of SWOT analysis is that it encourages a holistic approach to strategic planning. By considering both internal and external factors, businesses can develop well-rounded strategies that consider their unique circumstances. This comprehensive view helps leaders make informed decisions and allocate resources effectively.

6. Enhancing Decision-Making

SWOT analysis serves as a decision-making tool. It provides a structured framework for evaluating options and making choices that align with an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. When faced with multiple strategic alternatives, leaders can use the insights gained from SWOT analysis to prioritize and select the most suitable course of action.

7. Adaptability in a Dynamic Environment

In today’s rapidly changing business environment, adaptability is key to survival. SWOT analysis is not a one-time exercise but an ongoing process. Regularly revisiting and updating the analysis helps businesses stay agile and responsive to changes in their industry and market conditions. This adaptability is essential for long-term success. We have all heard the expression – you should work on the business rather than working in the business. For many, it is not always possible to only focus on the business because they are required to work in the day-to-day operation of the organization. However, dedicating a portion of your time each week, month, and year to your strategy is essential. Build your business roadmap with a trusted business advisor or by utilizing a self-paced tool that helps you build it on your own (Business Road Map Tool) and then revisit it regularly. When I say on your own, I mean you should include the entire team. Often your employee’s view of things is a bit clearer than yours.

Conclusion

In the world of business strategy, the SWOT analysis is an indispensable tool. It empowers organizations to identify their strengths and weaknesses, recognize opportunities, and anticipate and mitigate threats. By conducting a SWOT analysis, businesses can develop informed, well-rounded strategies that position them for success in a dynamic and competitive marketplace. It’s not just a static assessment; it’s a dynamic process that should be an integral part of any strategic planning effort. So, if you’re charting a course for your business’s future, make sure you have your SWOT analysis in hand—it’s the compass that will help guide you to success. If you have not already begun this journey feel free to reach out to us for assistance, or leverage our Roadmap tool by clicking this link – Business Road Map Tool

December 14, 2022 By Pat Meehan

Time for the Holidays!

It’s interesting that you see this phrase used so often during the holiday season. Because this is the season that most feel they are time starved – lacking the time to get everything done. This is what started me thinking about your time as a business owner. A business should be more of a lifestyle than a job!

I want you to think about that for a minute! A job is something people do to make money and it usually requires a strict schedule of working hours. Although in the new post covid virtual work world that is more and more not the case. A business is an asset that you, the business owner decided to build using your cash and sweat equity. Make no mistake that building that asset is going to take time and a lot of energy. But you are or should be in control of that time and how it is spent.

My wife had a saying she would throw at me whenever I forgot this. “No one ever dies saying I wish I spent more time at the office.” When your business is in its early infancy stage you will have a little less control due to the financial risks involved. But you have control none the less.

Managing your time effectively can change your life. If you allow others to steal your time, then you have lost control. Even customers understand you have a life outside of your business and will more than understand your schedule might not allow for that call that they are trying to book during your son or daughters’ basketball game.

Workload

A study by www.gallup.com found that small business owners work as much as 60 hours per week. That’s 50% more than the average employee. Now I am not saying you should work less than your employees because that usually isn’t the case at least not until the business is in its mature phase. But when you need time off to vacation or just recharge you shouldn’t feel guilty about it. There is no reason you should not be able to cut out early on occasion to do something for you or the family you love. I had a routine when my business was growing where I split my time between the office and home. I would go into the office and work more normal hours, but I would then break so I could have time for dinner with the family. After dinner many nights I would work at home to complete what needed to get done but I always tried to be there to share the days happenings with the kids and the wife. My wife was right I never regretted taking that time to watch my children grow and the business never suffered at all.

Delegation

No this isn’t a dirty word, and your staff are not all idiots. I was complaining one day at a business lunch about my shipping and receiving department and I had a CEO of a larger firm tell me that if they did the job as well as me then they would be the CEO. He was right! I didn’t hire an MBA graduate to run the shipping and receiving department – I hired a shipping manager for $75,000 a year. The problem was mine; I expected too much and gave too little of myself to the person I hired.

In an article from www.americanexpress.com they summed it up well – “If everything in your company depends on you, it can only grow as large as your personal capacity allows.” The problem is when you are starting out you are a solo entrepreneur, and everything is done by you. As you grow things are moving too fast to start training people, so you still do it all yourself because the result the team is producing is just not up to par with your standards.

Delegation starts long before you hire your first person. How can that be you say? While you are developing the business you personally determine the best way to get things done and what the result should be. Take the time to template the process so when you do hire someone you can easily train them on your way of doing things. Spend some time before they start to orient them to the company and your way of thinking. Listen to feedback because they might just have a better way of doing things. It’s important to remember that there are tasks in the workplace that you should not be spending your time on. Delegate them to people who are better at them than you.

The Team

Nothing is more powerful than a team of people aligned around a common goal. If you can surround yourself with people smarter than you who buy into your vision for the company, you are well on your way to finding more time for yourself and growing a company with a great future. The team will do the things you should not be doing in the first place, and they will make you proud of the results. Your mission from here is to develop strategies that will allow the business to thrive into the future and provide your team the opportunity to grow in their careers. Nothing will kill the spirit of a company quicker than stagnation.

So, take the time this holiday season to think about your business and your life. Are you living your best life? Has your business taken control of you, or do you have control of it? A business has a personality of its own. It needs to be fed with work and money, it is demanding, but it’s yours. You are in control of its growth and its cultural development. Think it over and make sure the business delivers you the life you were hoping for when you started it.

The team here at TEC Resource Center wishes you and your family a happy and healthy holiday season and a year of improved work-life balance. Now Get It Done!

July 31, 2017 By Pat Meehan

Alignment – Good or Bad?

Alignment – A case study (Actually 2 cases)

How could being in alignment with your team ever be bad? Let me share 2 case studies….

Case #1

We recently visited Vancouver, BC. From the moment we arrived at our hotel, we felt a sense of welcoming. Our room wasn’t ready yet, but the desk clerk informed us that he had a nice upgrade for us and would give us a call when our room was ready. When we walked into our huge suite (I originally booked a standard harbor view room) it looked like the front of a cruise ship with panoramic windows overlooking the beautiful harbor, without the rocking or cheesy draperies.

At dinner that night, as we were walked to our table, 2 separate people welcomed us to Vancouver. We experienced this type of hospitality literally everywhere we went. You could see everyone in the hotel was in alignment. I felt like I knew their mission—tourism is our lifeblood, so treat the tourists like gold so they keep coming back and spending money here. Everyone was in alignment, good alignment.

Case #2

Just bought a new hot tub! They told us we should have it in about 4 weeks. 6 weeks later, after numerous calls they called to schedule delivery. We told them we would be home on that Friday anytime EXCEPT between 12:00-1:30. They called around 11:30 and said they would be there at 12:30. Really? We reiterated that that was precisely when we would NOT be there. They arrived at 11:59. I am not kidding. We were now late for an appointment.

They were just the delivery company so they could not even help us with starting up the tub. Now we had to make another appointment with the hot tub company for an in-service and startup. We called the company. “Sure, we’ll be there in 2 weeks.” Are you kidding? We’re 2 months out from our original order date now! No matter who we spoke to at the company, it was the same story….we’re very busy….this is our busiest time of the year…why didn’t you call sooner?… Just fill it up and follow the instructions on the startup kit….. Of course there were no instructions or manual provided with the tub!

That’s what we eventually did since we didn’t want to wait 2 more weeks to use the hot tub. We received error messages upon starting the tub that they could not explain on the phone and therefore waited two weeks for their technician to come out.

Since we are in a service business ourselves we decided we should call the owner of the company and share the experience we were having with their store. Surely he would want to know. It took about 2 minutes to understand why their staff behaved the way they did. They were in perfect alignment with the owner. He literally had an argument with my husband, a very calm guy I might add, and said everything his staff told us was correct. Several minutes later his wife called…ah, the voice of reason. Not really. She started out asking what the problem was, but as soon as we told her the tub was not functioning and we really didn’t want to wait 2 more weeks to use the tub that was already several weeks late, she gave the party line, “Well, I don’t know what you want me to tell you. We’re very busy.” It seems everyone was in alignment after all.

Alignment is a powerful thing. When everyone is rowing in the same direction, the mission and vision of the company is more likely to be achieved. Alignment is key to the success of an organization. Business owners and managers have to do more than talk the talk. They have to walk the walk. People emulate what they see. Are you modeling the customer service philosophy you want your team to have?

We have placed a Company Alignment Assessment on our website training page (https://tecresourcecenter.com/tec-training )that will help determine where your company stands in the alignment process. Feel free to download a copy today. Getting your team aligned with your vision and values will empower your employees, energize the entire company, and put a smile on the faces of your customers.

Thoughts……..

July 24, 2017 By Pat Meehan

Are You Ready for the Future?

We have all heard the expression that “A dream without a plan is just a wish”- Katherine Paterson. Obviously if we had a dream of taking a trip to another state or a foreign country we would have a plan on how we were going to get there. Whether we were going to fly or take boat or car, what would we do if the weather delayed the trip or something unexpected caused us to take an alternative route? In fact we might take weeks, months or even years planning the perfect agenda to be sure we maximized the enjoyment we would receive from the journey. After all, planning the dream vacation takes careful research and planning.

In business we often forget we are on a journey because it becomes too much like a job. We lose sight of the fact that we have been dreaming of owning our own business for so many years. Dreaming of the financial security it would bring or the legacy we would leave behind. Business owners get caught up in the day to day of the business and forget to work on the growth and strategy of the business.

I recently met a young business owner, he and a friend had discovered a unique niche opportunity while working for a repair company in high school. They quickly took advantage of this opening and grew their company to $5.5 million in two short years. During our conversation we spoke about the journey they had taken and how the business was larger now with employees. They were busy developing processes that would better control the flow of work through the company and struggling to understand the people management process, never having managed employees before. Having been a CEO of my own business for more than 30 years I of course had more interest in where this young business was headed. I was impressed by these young guys and wanted to know more about growth projections, margins, and competitors. When I began to ask them about their strategic plans for the future I quickly discovered they had lost sight of the future because they were completely engrossed in the business itself.

These young guys are not alone. More often than not in my interactions with business owners I find they spend far too many hours working in the business and not enough time working on the business’s future. In a five or ten minute conversation with my young friends I discovered margins were shrinking due to an onslaught of new competitors entering the market, in turn driving prices down. The secret they discovered two years ago was out and everyone wanted in. They had a huge jump on the competition but if they didn’t work on a plan and implement it quickly this advantage would soon be gone and they would find themselves in a defensive position.

In this case they hadn’t planned for the journey at all. They saw an opportunity and they jumped on it and what a great job they did. Without a road map for the company they were lost and hadn’t stopped to ask for directions. I asked them if they wanted to enter the working world once the demand for their product had subsided. You can imagine the confused look I received. I asked if they thought this market dominance would last now that competitors were swarming to the table. Quickly they both agreed that it wouldn’t. So what’s next is the question I posed. Not having experienced the planning process before, I sent them back to the office to consider the question and encouraged them to call me for coffee when they had put some thought into it.

For years as a young CEO I understood that we needed to plan, but our so called strategic planning meeting each year turned out the same old hockey stick growth projects with little or no real strategic planning going into the front end of the process. Each department head told me what they thought I wanted to hear and I bought it. Later on I discovered the value of planning, I mean really planning, all year long so that the strategic planning meetings were not only productive but eye opening and lead to some of the greatest growth opportunities the company had ever seen. When the team understood that we needed to become focused as a group on the journey and not just the day to day operation they were empowered to bring forward the good, the bad, and the ugly news about what was going on in the industry as well as our own company. With this validated information in hand we were able to clearly map out what the future looked like (Vision) and the initiatives that would get us there ahead of our competitors. Answering the hard questions built into the planning process allowed us to:

Better understand our competitors
Better understand the trajectory of the industry
Build a better value proposition
Increase customer satisfaction and
Measure our progress on the journey

We have placed a Strategic Planning Readiness Assessment on our website planning page (https://tecresourcecenter.com/planning) that will help determine where your company stands in the strategic planning process. Feel free to download a copy today. Don’t find yourself in the position so many others have in the past with decreasing sales and or margins and no real plan for the changes ahead.